When Times Get Rough
by Rachael Marie
Summary: Marco's last month at Degrassi Community School is filled with surprises, and whether he winds up at Dylan's college afterwards or not, can Marco survive the uni life and keep the man he's falling in love with? MarcoDylan. THIS FIC IS NOW AN AU.
1. Prologue

** When Times Get Rough**

**Prologue**

"Well, this is it," Marco said, walking back into his house, Dylan at his side. "The moment of truth."

"Calm down, Marco," Dylan said, looping an arm around his waist. "It's just university. Even if you don't get into mine, nothing's going to change."

Marco smiled at the sudden reassurance. "Well, I'm not getting my hopes up." They were inside now, in the kitchen. Marco's mom was cooking pasta sauce over the stove. Mr. Del Rossi was at the kitchen table reading the morning paper. Dylan smiled and nodded to Marco's dad and hugged Marco's mom tightly.

"How are you, Mrs. Del Rossi?" Dylan asked. "Sauce coming along well?"

Marco's mother smiled and laughed. "Very well, thank you, Dylan." She turned to Marco. "What's that in your hand?"

"Oh, this?" Marco bit his lip. "It's the acceptance or rejection letter from Dylan's university. I applied a month or so ago," Marco explained. "But you know what?" He put the letter on the kitchen counter. "I'm not going to open it. Not yet, anyway."

There was silence in the kitchen. Mr. Del Rossi had looked up from his paper. Mrs. Del Rossi's stirring spoon was hovering over the pot, and Dylan had scrunched up his eyebrows, staring at Marco curiously.

Then everyone lunged for the letter.

It turned out to be Dylan who'd gotten it, since he had been nearest, and he held it high over Marco's head, teasingly. Marco was taking great care to restrain himself from jumping to get it and risk looking like an idiot.

"You know you want to know if you're in or not," Dylan said, leaning down to peck Marco lightly on the cheek, the envelope coming within an inch of Marco's fingers before Dylan stood up fully again.

"Just open it, damnit," Marco said impatiently. He smiled widely though, moving close to Dylan and wrapping his arms around his waist. "Please?"

"Please is right," Mr. Del Rossi said, eyeing their embrace with mild amusement. "Save the affection for some place else."

Marco closed his eyes in annoyance. He hated when his father got like this. He was usually fairly okay, despite the fact that Marco being gay was not something that he was completely ready to accept, but every time Marco thought he was going to get better, he had to go around ruin it all with his comments. Marco squeezed Dylan's waist and in response, Dylan pushed Marco's hair behind his ear. It would have been the perfect moment to kiss him, but Marco refrained.

"All right, let's get this over with," Marco said. "Just do it, so I can officially know I'm too big of an idiot to get into uni."

"Stop being so hard on yourself," Dylan said. He slipped his forefinger under the slit of the envelope. "Ready?" he asked Marco, casually putting an arm around him.

Marco smiled up at him. "Ready."

* * *

**Author's Notes: **That's just the prologue, and yes, it's meant to be very short and really, quite pointless. I hope it's enough to keep you reading though, and the next chapter should be up shortly. Reviews (both good & bad) are welcome, though if you've come to chew out my writing, I'd highly suggest taking it elsewhere as I really don't care.


	2. Chapter One

**When Times Get Rough**

**Chapter One**

"Enough with the suspense, just get it over with," Marco said exasperatedly. "I just want to know if I got in or not. Which I know I won't."

"You know I find your insecurity appealing, but I find your impatience appalling," Dylan said, slapping Marco's ass lightly.

"Big vocabulary," Marco commented, "And you're lucky my dad didn't see that," he added in a whispered voice. "Now get on with it."

Mrs. Del Rossi had her hands over her mouth, the sauce pot forgotten. "Dylan, please," she said, her voice heavy with Italian accent, "Just go!"

The envelope opened easily as Dylan slipped the letter out of it. The only part of it Marco could see before Dylan turned away was his name and address at the top of it. The kitchen was silent for a few moments while Dylan read the letter. Mrs. Del Rossi tapped her foot and Marco clenched his fists and looked away.

"Well, Marco, I'm sorry…" Dylan began. Marco bit his lip. "But you're stuck in school with me for the next four years!" It was obvious that Dylan was trying to act upset, but the excitement in his voice was easily heard.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Del Rossi shouted excitedly when they heard, Mr. Del Rossi putting down his paper and going to kiss his wife. He then hugged Marco, patting him roughly on the back. "I knew it! My boy is a genius!"

"I can't believe it! I'm in!" Marco said, smiling widely. Dylan enveloped him in a strong hug, lifting him off the ground. It was almost a natural reaction as his hands slid up over Dylan's arms and shoulders, tangling in his hair as Marco tilted his head up and kissed him softly on the lips. It was as if time had stopped.

"I knew you could do it," Dylan murmured against Marco's lips.

"Well all knew it!" said Mrs. Del Rossi, not distracted in the slightest over the display of affection. With Mr. Del Rossi, however, that wasn't the case.

"Please." It was said shortly and curtly, in a tone that clearly said he was displeased but was trying his damnedest not to make a scene. Mrs. Del Rossi put her hand to her mouth as her husband stood up.

"I will not have that in my home," he said, looking specifically at Dylan. "My son cares for you," he said, his words slurring together through his accent, "and I respect that. But I do not want to see you two… doing things in front of me. It is disgusting!"

Marco closed his eyes. This was not happening. The best day of his life, getting into uni, _Dylan's _uni, and his dad had to go and ruin it with his homophobia. Dylan put Marco down, but Marco's hand remained firmly around his waist, and he squeezed reassuringly. Dylan understood what Marco was saying, even without the words, and his hand trailed up Marco's back to rest on his shoulder.

"Dad," Marco began. "It's not disgusting." Mr. Del Rossi gave him a look that distinctly said he thought it was. "Dylan and I care about each other and…" Marco paused. He wanted to be able to phrase this correctly and not stumble over his words. "If we want to kiss, I think we should be able to kiss."

Before Mr. Del Rossi could respond, Marco's mother began to speak. "Well, I think it's wonderful that you two are going to be in the same university. And I think that we - " she paused to look over at her husband, "can allow you to kiss in our home. After all, you two are in the relationship, not your father or myself." Marco grinned. He was so grateful to have his mother, because his mother understood.

"You can do it in this house," Mr. Del Rossi said, his teeth grinding together in anger. "But never in front of me. I don't want to see it."

Dylan had been silent for a while, but his voice seemed to have returned. "We can deal with that, Mr. Del Rossi," he said, giving Marco's shoulders a squeeze. "But now that we all know the good news, I think Marco and I are going to go out and get a burger or something at The Dot, right Marco?" Dylan didn't even look at Marco for an answer, but set the letter on the kitchen counter. "It was nice seeing you two again."

Mrs. Del Rossi smiled and leaned over to kiss Marco on the cheek and then Dylan. Marco's mother gave them both a sympathetic look, but turned back to her sauce. Mr. Del Rossi had sat back down and was reading his paper again.

As they shut the front door to the Del Rossi residence behind them, Marco turned to Dylan with a somewhat confused look on his face. "Why'd you give into my dad so easily? You should have let me handle it, I'm sure I could have changed his mind…" Marco trailed off. "Maybe not. But at least, well, I don't know. At least I could have let him know what I thought about all his stupid rules."

"We both know you couldn't have changed your dad's mind, I just wanted to get out of there. I wasn't actually planning on going to The Dot, you know." Dylan winked, and Marco felt that twinge in his heart every time Dylan smiled at him, or winked at him, or held his hand, or kissed him. He was hesitant to call it love… he had a hard time describing what he felt about Dylan.

"Want to go for a drive?" Dylan asked. Marco nodded and got into the passenger seat of Dylan's convertible, settling into the soft leather. Dylan reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing slightly. Then he started up the car, turned the radio onto Rock101FM, and they drove off, heading in no direction in particular. The wind whipped Marco's hair in every direction possible, the May sun shining brightly in the sky. They went past The Dot and out of Toronto altogether. Marco closed his eyes and when he finally opened them again, the car was pulling to a stop on top of a large hill.

"Sometimes I come out here to… you know, think," Dylan said, blushing slightly. Marco grinned and they got out of the car and walked together, their hands brushing occasionally until Marco finally linked them together.

They sat on a large boulder, their knees brushing. "I'm nervous about uni," Marco said after several moments of silence.

"I was nervous too," Dylan admitted. "And it is pretty tough, the workload. But the parties are fun, you meet a lot of great people, and seeing as you're a freshman…"

Marco angled his body toward Dylan's, resting a hand on his knee. "What about it?" he asked.

"Well, you have the option of an older roommate. Junior or senior." Dylan smiled. "I'm a junior. And if you're comfortable with it…"

Marco smiled back, running his tongue over his lips in the way he knew drove Dylan mad. "I'd love to. If they'll let me, that is."

"Well, I had a roommate my own age when I started uni, so I'm not exactly sure what you have to do to get a younger roommate, but when I go back for finals and stuff next week, I can talk to someone from the administration if you like," Dylan offered. Marco already knew that he only had one official week of school left and one week of finals before his sophomore year of college was finished. It was hard to believe that Dylan was only a couple of years from graduating and Marco was just starting university.

"That'd be perfect," Marco said.

After a while, Dylan stood up and slid off the rock and went back to his car. Marco restrained himself from getting up after him, still sitting and staring off into space. Dylan returned several seconds later, carrying a blanket and spreading it out on the ground.

"Come down here, Marco," Dylan said, sitting on the blanket and patting the space next to him. Marco did so, lying down with his hands under his head. Dylan followed suit and their bodies pressed comfortably against each other.

It was one of those moments where Marco didn't need to be kissing, hugging, or even holding hands with Dylan, yet he still felt that undeniable surge of electricity between them. Just being close to him made Marco happy, and he knew it made Dylan happy as well. Marco often wondered what would have happen if he'd never met Dylan, where would he be now? Certainly without a boyfriend, but to him, Dylan was much more than "just a boyfriend". He was a close friend, a confidant. Sometimes he felt like he didn't deserve Dylan, but even then he pushed the thought out of his head. He was happy, he was sure that Dylan was happy, why rock the boat by questioning their relationship. They hadn't had sex, and Marco hadn't felt the need to. They hadn't even gotten each other's shirts off, but they had also never said the words Marco had wanted so badly to say, so badly to hear said to him.

He pulled one of his arms out from under his head and used it to turn Dylan's face towards his. Then he leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the mouth.

"What was that for?" Dylan asked, smiling as he propped his head up on his elbow.

_Because I think I love you. _"No reason." Marco smiled back, though, and leaned forward to kiss him again.

Marco hit the button on his alarm at 6:30 the next morning, jumped out of bed, and rushed into the bathroom to take a shower before school.

He and Dylan had stayed out until some time around eleven, and on school nights, that's when Marco usually went to bed. He wasn't tired, just slightly exhausted. Not to mention, they had both fallen asleep in the grass for a few hours, so that made up for the lost time for sleep he should have had.

As he finished combing his hair around 7:30, his mom walked in and sat down on his bed, and Marco turned to face her. "Hey, Ma. How'd you sleep?"

"Fine," she said. "I am sorry about what your father said," she told him. "You know how he gets."

Marco did know, but he didn't particularly want to talk about it. "I know, Ma. It's not your fault. Listen, I'm gonna be late. I've got to get going. See you soon." Marco leaned over and kissed his mom on the cheek.

"Have a good day, I love you," Mrs. Del Rossi said.

Marco nodded and grabbed his book bag from the edge of his bed and ran out of his room and into the car, yelling over his shoulder, "Love you too!"

Marco pulled up to Degrassi CS, parked his car, and headed into homeroom where Spinner was waiting.

"Del Rossi! Dude! Guess what!" Spinner said, running up to him, waving a letter in his hand. Even if he hadn't cared to hear what Spinner was going to say, he knew he would hear anyway. So he remained silent, a smile on his face. Spinner threw his arms around Marco, squeezed tightly, and finally let go, panting. "You'll never guess! I actually got in!" Spinner thrust the envelope into Marco's face. "Take a look! Did you get your letter yet?"

Marco looked at the seal. It was from the same college he was going to. He didn't even have to read the letter to know that Spin had gotten accepted. "Spin, that's great! I'm so proud of you! I'm in too, we can be dorm mates… maybe." Marco would have much rather shared a dorm with Dylan, but he had to offer.

"I hope you're not ticked or anything, but I got a dorm with a senior… for experience or something." Marco was thrilled, and shook his head.

"Not at all, I'm actually rooming with Dylan anyway…" He blushed slightly.

"Del Rossi!" Spinner said, pointing a mock-accusing finger at him. "You dog!"

Marco raised his eyebrows. "So. That makes you, me, Paige… has Hazel gotten her letter yet?" Spinner nodded, smiling, telling Marco that she was in as well. "Then that's all who applied, right?" Spinner nodded again.

"Listen, I gotta go talk to Paige. If I'm lucky, our dorms will be close… I think she's starting to forgive me about the Manny thing and I don't want to screw it up anymore." Spinner rushed off without saying goodbye, and Marco smiled to himself.

With Spinner, Paige, and Hazel coming to uni with him, not to mention Dylan already being there, the coming school year was bound to be good. After all, even if the workload was tough, his friends and his boyfriend would be there to help him through it all.

* * *

**Author's Notes**: First of all, thanks so much to everyone that reviewed. I'm glad that the story is getting such positive feedback, especially since it was only the prologue that you've all seen. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, you got to see a little more of what Marco's dad is like when he's subjected to public displays of affection. Just so that you all know, Marco's dad is _not _the kind of father that hits Marco, he's just strict.

Unfortunately, I don't have a preview of the next chapter just yet, but I can tell you that the last month of school for Marco will be summed up in about 3,000 words so that we can get it over with. Chapter three and possibly four bring the events of summer, and by chapter five, they'll be at college. Woo, aren't we excited?

Now I just have to figure out when I want to add in the smut. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter Two

**When Times Get Rough**

**Chapter Two**

It had taken a long time for Marco to finally tell his father he was gay. It was hard to believe he'd only told him five months ago, and it was especially hard to believe that it had taken him four months to even acknowledge the fact that Marco was gay. For the longest time, Mr. Del Rossi had continued to ask Marco if he had found a girlfriend yet, if he was planning any dates…

Dylan was over again. Dylan was always over, whether it was to help Marco study at the kitchen table while his mom cooked and talked with them, or it was to kiss on Marco's living room couch while his parents weren't home, he was always there and the Mr. Del Rossi had come to accept Dylan as his son's best friend. Mrs. Del Rossi was a little more clever, though, and had seen the matter as something entirely different and much more accurate.

_It was one of those times when Marco's parents had gone out to dinner for the night - and by 'for the night', they meant all night, and they wouldn't be returning until sometime around two in the morning. Marco had taken advantage of this fact and had called Dylan the day before, asking if he'd like to come over._

"_My parents are going to be at some party or other tomorrow night," Marco said into his cell phone late Thursday afternoon. "You want to come over?" Marco could practically see the smile on Dylan's face._

"_Of course. I'll be there around seven-thirty… is that okay?" Dylan said._

"_That's fine. They should be out of here by then. I really wish my dad would just attempt to understand us, you know?" Marco said. "I mean, I totally get that he's surprised, but right now it's like I never even came out to him. He thinks we're just best friends. He loves you, I know he does, but… he loves you as my best friend. And that's not what you are. I mean, you are but…"_

"_I know," Dylan said, cutting off Marco's long string of phrases._

"_You're my boyfriend."_

"_I know."_

_Dylan always knew what he meant, what he was feeling at a certain time. It might have been because Dylan was older and had already gone through what Marco was going through right now, but personally, Marco thought it was just because they understood each other._

_They hung up shortly after that, with the promise of the following night fresh in Marco's head. School passed quickly the next day, his head filled with thoughts of Dylan and spending time with him. It would have been different if they'd been able to do this a lot, but they weren't. Marco's parents didn't go out too often, and Marco had never been to Dylan's dorm before, not because he hadn't been offered the chance, just because they'd never really gotten around to it._

_Marco was sitting on the couch, flipping through the television channels, when the doorbell rang. He jumped up quickly and rushed to the door in under three seconds, but just stood there for a few extra moments, just so he didn't seem too eager. When he finally did open the door though, his breath caught in his throat._

_Dylan didn't look much different than usual, but Marco thought he was amazing nonetheless. "Hey," he said, stepping up on his toes to kiss him lightly on the lips. "Come on in." Marco held the door open for Dylan as they walked inside, closing and locking it behind him._

_They sat on the couch, making comfortable small talk about school, before Marco had had enough. He knew Dylan was just trying to be respectful of him, but Marco was perfectly fine with spending the evening making out._

"_Dylan…" Dylan paused mid-sentence about some test or another. "Shut up."_

_Marco leaned forward and kissed Dylan softly, adjusting himself on the couch so that he was closer rather than farther away from his boyfriend. He brought his hands up to Dylan's face and caressed his cheek as Dylan leaned back, pulling Marco on top of him._

"_I know you're just laying off because I'm younger than you are, and you don't want to scare me off," Marco pointed out, propping himself up with his elbows on either side of Dylan. "I'm seventeen and I'm not ridiculously fragile, you know."_

_Dylan smiled. "I know. I just don't want to lose you early on because of something stupid like how far we're going to go."_

"_It's been eight months, with various ups and downs. I don't want to have sex and I don't want to do anything more than making out, but really, Dylan," Marco said, running a hand through his lover's hair, "I'm not going to break the second you touch me."_

_Dylan visibly relaxed as he brought his arms around Marco's back and pulled him on top of him. "Glad to hear it." Then he dragged his fingers up Marco's back, and Marco shivered as Dylan pulled his face down, kissing him with just the right mix of roughness and playfulness._

_They had been going at it for a while, their tongues slipping in and out of one another's mouths before it happened. At this point, Dylan had settled himself on top of Marco and was proceeding to lick and suck his neck heatedly. Marco groaned loudly and tugged at Dylan's hair, bringing him back up to kiss his forehead, his nose, both of his cheeks, over his eyelids, the curve of his jaw, and finally, finally his lips. They hardly noticed the sound of the key in the lock of the door, the turning of the handle, the switch of the hall light go on and the sound of footsteps on the hardwood floors until Mrs. Del Rossi cleared her throat loudly, and the two boys sprang apart._

"_Ma! What are you - what are you doing home so early?" Marco asked, checking the clock. It was just after nine. "I thought you were going to be gone all night…" Dylan looked particularly uncomfortable, his lips turned bright red from all the kissing._

"_I, well, there was… there was a change of plans," Mrs. Del Rossi said._

_It was then that Marco noticed the expression on his father's face. It had started as horror and disgust, then realization, then back to horror and disgust._

"_Get out," Mr. Del Rossi said. At first, Marco thought he was referring to himself, and made to get up, but not before Dylan climbed off of him, grabbed his coat, and hurried out of the house. Marco closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair._

"_You just threw my boyfriend out," Marco said flatly. "What the heck did you do that for?"_

_Mrs. Del Rossi rubbed her temples, then grabbed onto her husband's arm. "You cannot keep pretending, this is what Marco is, who he is… Marco is gay."_

_Marco was so thankful for his mom at that moment, but he kept his mouth closed and watch the scene fold out in front of him. His dad's eyes were wide with some form of disappointment and shock. Mrs. Del Rossi was crying, not heavily, just a small fountain of tears leaking out of her eyes. She didn't make any noise._

"_I told you, Pa. You wouldn't listen," Marco said, standing up. He walked over to his parents and his mother put her arm around him. "I'm gay," he repeated, in case his father hadn't fully processed what his mom had previously said. "And nothing is going to change that. Dylan isn't my best friend, he's my boyfriend. I care about him."_

That night hadn't been any big revelation, there hadn't been any talks until midnight with everyone crying. It was Marco, in his confidence, explaining to his dad who he was and how he wasn't going to change, just because his dad didn't believe him. Mr. Del Rossi hadn't said much, but Marco had a feeling that he understood now.

---

His final month at Degrassi CS was hectic but fun. Marco spent time with all of his friends, hanging out at The Dot and counting down the days until University would start on September 1st. He and Dylan were inseparable, their arms around each other constantly, kissing at random times and holding hands wherever they went. Marco had always been sort of nervous around Dylan, never wanting to show affection for fear that Dylan wouldn't respond positively, but now it was as if that had all melted away. Marco felt comfortable with himself and around Dylan, and Dylan didn't appear to mind the sudden change of pace in Marco's attitude towards PDA, in fact, he welcomed it.

Finals passed with ease, as Marco was confident in himself and in his study preparations that he did just fine on them. Before he knew it he was sitting on the steps to the school with Spinner and Paige, waiting for Dylan and talking about the future.

"At least we'll all be together," Paige said, staring up at the school that had been their home for seven years.

"That's one way of looking at it," Marco said. "But think of all the people we're leaving behind."

"Don't get so deep, man. College is fifteen minutes away, it's no big deal," Spinner said. "We can visit whenever, even though I'm not sure it's a great idea. I've spent way too long here for my own good." Spinner eyed his former school with a somewhat apathetic expression.

Dylan pulled up in his convertible just then, taking the pressure off finding a topic of conversation or a retort to Spinner's previous comment, and Marco opened the door to the passenger seat and hopped inside, kissing Dylan quickly.

Spinner and Paige jumped into the back of the car as well, and the four drove around for a while, preferring to let the car stereo handle the lack of conversation. The only thing Marco could think about was going to college in two months. Going to college, possibly rooming with Dylan… it was something he had only dreamed of, and now it was finally happening. He'd met someone he was slowly but surely falling for, and he didn't even have to worry about college separation.

He turned to look at Dylan, whose eyes were half on the rode, but kept flickering over to him. Marco smiled, and Dylan smiled in return. Marco noticed that Dylan was driving one-handed, and he inched his hand over to grasp the free hand, lacing their fingers and squeezing Dylan's hand affectionately.

His best friends, his boyfriend, college, everything. He hadn't felt this free in a long time.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **This chapter was written mostly to clarify how Marco's dad came to be tolerant of Marco and Dylan's relationship. I'll say it again, because I cannot emphasize it enough - Marco's dad does not beat him. Not in this story, anyway. I don't have anything against fics that do use corporal punishment with their characters, but that's none of my business. This story has nothing to do with that, it's all an emotional conquest between Marco and his dad - not a physical one.

I hope you're all enjoying the story so far. I have a vague idea of what I want to happen in future chapters, I'm just not sure the chronology of the events. I'm trying to update as frequently as possible, but Queer as Folk is sort of taking up all my time as of late. Ah, the wonderful world of hot, gay men.

Also - _**THIS STORY IS NOW AN AU**_. Canada has just recently shown the episode _Eye of the Tiger_, which contains information that contradicts a lot of things in my story. Seeing as this was written before I saw the episode, and the entire story takes place after it all happened, it doesn't conflict with the regular _Degrassi_ storyline. I obviously won't be giving any spoilers for those of you that haven't seen _Eye of the Tiger _yet, but believe me, there is no way I could pull off what I wrote, even if it is just a little part of it, to match the episode.

Again, thanks for reading. Reviews are great. No reviews, no updates.

-Rachael Marie


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